"What the caterpillar calls the end of life, wise men call a butterfly."

Not one, not two, but three accident scenes stood between us and Vegas so what should have been a short 5 ½ hour drive turned into a 7 ½ hour nightmare. At least we weren’t one of the sorry ones standing next to their wrecked cars wondering why they hadn’t just put a little more distance between themselves and the car in front of them…

First stop this morning was a buffet breakfast at the hotel – yuck! Runny eggs, cold sausage and NO BACON! I can put up with almost anything if there’s bacon. At least it was free.

After that we motored over to Mandalay Bay to check out Shark Reef. It was not cheap but definitely worth the visit. Walking through tunnels with sharks and other fishies swimming all around you is just too cool. All in all, I’d say it’s equal to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. My middle son stated he liked Mandalay better. If Mandalay lit the jellyfish aquarium better it would probably get the nod. The parking was free!

We decided to head north on Las Vegas Blvd and encountered gridlock for blocks but that was OK cause there’s sooo much to see just looking out the windows at the funny and absurd sights of Las Vegas – the billboards, the buildings, the people – all sweltering in the heat that was over 100 by noon and 110 by 3.

Giving up on sitting in traffic and getting hungry we continued north thinking we could just find a fast food restaurant somewhere near the Tower but all we found were pawn shops, massage parlors and the occasional XXX video store. Thankfully the kids had all passed out in the air-conditioned van and didn’t see a thing.

They woke up when we parked under the tallest Spire in LV and told them food was at hand – another buffet that would have fed a battalion and the coolest part was you could choose at 2 in the afternoon whether you wanted breakfast, lunch or dinner. I was shocked at the end of the meal to find out none of my kids had ever had a root beer float. Deciding to end this parental oversight immediately, and with a little creative use of the facilities located at opposite ends of the buffet, they now know what they’ve been missing!

My wife wanted to take everyone up to the top of the Tower so we headed to the entrance only to find a ticket booth blocking the entrance. Discovering that it would take $50 to take 6 people up an elevator, I decided it was time for ‘creative parenting.’ “Wouldn’t you rather go swim in the pool?” I asked innocently.

We were on the highway heading south 10 minutes later.

Not sure if we’ll have time to do the Hoover Dam tomorrow, but that’s the plan.